Chapter 2

Motion Along a Straight Line

2.1 Motion
2.2 Position and displacement
2.3 Average velocity and average speed
2.4 Instantaneous velocity and speed
2.5 Acceleration
2.6 Constant acceleration: a special case
2.7 Free-fall acceleration
1
- Kinematics is the part of mechanics that describes the
motion of physical objects.
- Motion will be along a straight line.
- We will assume that the moving objects are
particles, i.e., we restrict our discussion to the
motion of objects for which all the points move in the
same way.
2.1 Motion
2
- Consider an object moving along a straight line taken to
be the x-axis. The objects position at any time t is
described by its coordinate x(t) defined with respect to
the origin O.
- The coordinate x can be positive or negative depending
whether the object is located on the positive or the
negative part of the x-axis.
2.2 Position and displacement
3
4
- Displacement: If an object moves from position x
1
to
position x
2
, the change in position is described by the
displacement
- Displacement is a vector quantity that has both
magnitude and direction. In this restricted one-
dimensional motion the direction is described by the
algebraic sign of x.
- Consider as an example the motion of an object from an
initial position x
1
= 5 m to x
2
= 200 m and then back to
x
1
= 5 m. Even though the total distance covered is 390
m the displacement then is x = 0.
2 1
x x x A =
- One method of describing the motion of an object is to
plot its position x(t) as a function of time t.
2.3 Average velocity and average speed
5
2 1
avg
2 1
x x x
v
t t t
A
= =
A
6
2 1
avg
2 1
2 ( 4) 6 m
2 m/s
4 1 3 s
x x
v
t t

= = = =

Average Speed s
avg
The average speed is defined in terms of the
total distance traveled in a time interval t (and
not the displacement x as in the case of v
avg
).
avg
total distance
s
t
=
A
Note: The average velocity and the average speed for the same
time interval t can be quite different.
2.4 Instantaneous velocity and speed
- In order to describe how fast an object moves at any time
t we introduce the notion of instantaneous velocity v (or
simply velocity).
- Instantaneous velocity is defined as the limit of the
average velocity determined for a time interval t as we
let t 0.
7
lim
0
x dx
v
t dt
t
A
= =
A
A
- From its definition instantaneous
velocity is the first derivative of
the position coordinate x with
respect to time. It is thus equal to
the slope of the x versus t plot.
Speed
- We define speed as the magnitude
of an objects velocity vector.
8
p

2.5 Acceleration
- We define the average acceleration a
avg
between t
1
and t
2
as:
Units: m/s
2
9
Average Acceleration
2 1
avg
2 1
v v v
a
t t t
A
= =
A
- If we take the limit of a
avg
as t 0 we get the
instantaneous acceleration a, which describes how fast
the velocity is changing at any time t.
- The acceleration is the slope of the v versus t plot.
Instantaneous Acceleration
2
2
lim ,
0
v dv dv d dx d x
a a
t dt dt dt dt dt
t
A
| |
= = = = =
|
A
\ .
A
10
2.6 Constant acceleration: a special case
0
0
. If we integrate both sides of the equation we get:
. Here is the integration constant.
can be determined if we know the velocity (0) at 0:
(0) ( )(0
dv
a dv adt
dt
dv adt a dt v at C C
C v v t
v v a
= =
= = = +
= =
= =
} } }
( )
0 0
0 0
2
0 0
) (eq. 1)
. If we integrate both sides we get:
. Here is the integration constant.
2
can be determined if e

w
C C v
dx
v dx vdt v at dt v dt atdt
dt
at
dx v dt a tdt x v t C
v v t
C
a
C
+ = + =
= = = + = +
' ' = + = + +
'
} } }
0
2
0
know the position (0) at 0:
(0) ( )(0) (0)
2
(eq. 2 ( ) )
2
o
o o
o
x x t
a
at
x t x v
x x v C C
t
x
= + +
= =
' ' = = + + =
( )
2
0 0 0
2 2
0 0
(eq. 1) ; (eq. 2)
If we eliminate the time between equation 1 and equation 2 we get:
(eq. 3)
Below we plot the position ( ), th

e vel

2
o
2
c
at
v v at x x v t
v v a x
x t
x
t
= + = + +
=
ity ( ), and the acceleration versus time : v t a t
The acceleration a is a constant.
The v(t) versus t plot is a straight line with
slope = a and intercept = v
0
.
The x(t) versus t plot is a parabola that intercepts
the vertical axis at x = x
0
.
0
v v at = +
2
0 0

2
at
x x v t = + +
11
2.7 Free-fall acceleration
- Close to the surface of the Earth all objects move toward
the center of the Earth with an acceleration whose
magnitude is constant and equal to 9.8 m/s
2
. We use the
symbol g to indicate the acceleration of an object in free
fall.
12
a
y
A
B
If we take the y-axis to point upward
then the acceleration of an object in
free fall a = -g and the equations for
free fall take the form:
( )
0
2
0
2 2
0
(eq. 1)
(eq. 2)
2
2 (eq. 3)
o
o
v v gt
gt
x x v t
v v g x x
=
= +
=
Sample Problem 1:
An automobile travels on a straight road for 40 km at 30 km/h. It
then continues in the same direction for another 40 km at 60 km/h.
(a) What is the average velocity of the car during this 80 km trip?
(Assume that it moves in the positive x direction.)
(b) What is the average speed?
(c) Graph x versus t and indicate how the average velocity is found
on the graph.
(a) During the first part of the motion, the displacement is Ax
1
= 40 km and the
time interval is
t
1
40
133 = =
(
.
km)
(30 km/ h)
h.
During the second part the displacement is Ax
2
= 40 km and the time interval is
t
2
40
067 = =
(
.
km)
(60 km/ h)
h.
Both displacements are in the same direction, so the total displacement is
Ax = Ax
1
+ Ax
2
= 40 km + 40 km = 80 km.
13
14
The total time for the trip is t = t
1
+ t
2
= 2.00 h. Consequently, the average
velocity is
v
avg
km)
(2.0 h)
km/ h. = =
(80
40
(b) In this example, the numerical result for the average speed is the same as the
average velocity 40 km/h.
(c) As shown below, the graph consists of two contiguous line segments, the first
having a slope of 30 km/h and connecting the origin to (t
1
, x
1
) = (1.33 h, 40
km) and the second having a slope of 60 km/h and connecting (t
1
, x
1
) to (t, x)
= (2.00 h, 80 km). From the graphical point of view, the slope of the dashed
line drawn from the origin to (t, x) represents the average velocity.
15
Sample Problem 2:
The position of an object moving along an x-axis is given by x =
3t - 4t
2
+t
3
, where x is in meters and t in seconds. Find the
position of object at the following values of t:
(a) 1s,
(b) 2s,
(c) 3s,
(d) 4s,
(e) What is the object displacement between t = 0 and t = 4s?
(f) What is its average velocity for the time interval from t = 2 s
to t = 4 s.
(g) Graph x versus t for 0 s t s 4 s and indicate how the answer
for (f) can be found on the graph.
16
avg
14 m
7 m/s.
2 s
x
v
t
A
= = =
A
Using x = 3t 4t
2
+ t
3
with SI units understood is efficient (and is the approach we
will use), but if we wished to make the units explicit we would write
x = (3 m/s)t (4 m/s
2
)t
2
+ (1 m/s
3
)t
3
.
(a) Plugging in t = 1 s yields x = 3 4 + 1 = 0.
(b) With t = 2 s we get x = 3(2) 4(2)
2
+(2)
3
= 2 m.
(c) With t = 3 s we have x = 0 m.
(d) Plugging in t = 4 s gives x = 12 m.
For later reference, we also note that the position at t = 0 is x = 0.
(e) The position at t = 0 is subtracted from the position at t = 4 s to find the
displacement Ax = 12 m.
(f) The position at t = 2 s is subtracted from the position at t = 4 s to give the
displacement A x = 14 m. Then, leads to
(g) The horizontal axis is 0 s t s 4 with SI units
understood.
Not shown is a straight line drawn from the point at
(t, x) = (2, 2) to the highest point shown (at t = 4 s)
which would represent the answer for part (f).
Average velocity and
average speed
17
Sample Problem 3:
The position of a particle moving along the x axis is given in
centimeters by x = 9.75 + 1.5t
3
, where t is in seconds. Calculate
(a)The average velocity during the time interval t = 2.00 s to t =
3.00s;
(b)The instantaneous velocity at t = 2.00 s;
(c)The instantaneous velocity at t = 3.00 s;
(d)The instantaneous velocity at t = 2.50 s;
(e)The instantaneous velocity when the particle is midway
between its position at t = 2.00 s and t =3.00 s.
(f) Graph x versus t and indicate your answer graphically.
18
v
x
t
avg
cm cm
s s
= =

A
A
5025 2175
300 2 00
. .
. .
v t
dx
dt
= = 45
2
.
x t t
m m m
= + = 9 75 15 2 596
3
. . .
(a) We plug into the given equation for x for t = 2.00 s and t = 3.00 s and obtain x
2
= 21.75 cm and x
3
= 50.25 cm, respectively. The average velocity during the
time interval 2.00 s t s 3.00 s is
which yields v
avg
= 28.5 cm/s.
(b) The instantaneous velocity is
, which, at time t = 2.00 s, yields v = (4.5)(2.00)
2
= 18.0 cm/s.
(c) At t = 3.00 s, the instantaneous velocity is v = (4.5)(3.00)
2
= 40.5 cm/s.
(d) At t = 2.50 s, the instantaneous velocity is v = (4.5)(2.50)
2
= 28.1 cm/s.
(e) Let t
m
stand for the moment when the particle is midway between x
2
and x
3
(that
is, when the particle is at x
m
= (x
2
+ x
3
)/2 = 36 cm). Therefore,
(f)The answer to part (a) is given by the slope of the
straight line between t = 2 and t = 3 in this x-vs-t plot.
The answers to parts (b), (c), (d) and (e) correspond
to the slopes of tangent lines (not shown but easily
imagined) to the curve at the appropriate points.
in seconds. Thus, the instantaneous speed at this time is v = 4.5(2.596)
2
= 30.3
cm/s.
19
Problems:
1. A person goes out for a bike ride to a nearby town. A record of
the trip is as follows: 30 minutes at 30 km/hour, 15 minutes at 40
km/h, 5 minutes at 0 km/h for a break, and 20 minutes at 15 km/h.
a) What is the distance the person traveled? [30 km]
b) What is the average velocity? [25.71 km/hr]
2. A car increases its velocity from 15 m/s to 25 m/s in the distance
of 20 m.
a) Find the magnitude of this acceleration. [10 m/s
2
]
b) Find the time it takes for the car to travel this distance. [1 s]
3. A car starts from rest and travels for 10 seconds with a constant
acceleration of 3.0 m/s
2
. The driver then applies the brakes
causing a constant negative acceleration of 4.0 m/s
2
. Assuming
the brakes are applied for 2.0 seconds:
a) How fast is the car going at the end of braking? [22 m/s]
b) How far has the car gone at the end of braking? [202 m]
20
4. A ball is thrown straight up in the air and passes a certain window
0.30 s after being released. It passes the same window on its way
back down 1.50 s later. What was the initial velocity of the ball?
[10.3 m/s]
5. A model rocket is launched from rest and its engine delivers a
constant acceleration of 8.2 meters per square second for 5.0 s
after which the fuel is used up. Assuming the rocket was launched
straight up into the air.
a) Find the maximum altitude reached by the rocket. [188.3 m]
b) Find the total time the rocket is in flight. [15.4 s]
(assume no air resistance)
21
6. A basketball is dropped from a height of 2.00 meters above the
ground. On the first bounce the ball reaches a maximum height of
1.10 meters where it is caught. Find the velocity of the ball:
a) just before it makes contact with the ground, [-6.3 m/s]
b) just after it leaves the ground after the bounce, [4.64 m/s]
c) the total time from drop to catch (neglecting the time the ball is
in contact with the ground). [1.11 s]
7. A cat with a constant velocity of 4.0 m/s runs by a stationary dog.
After 1 second, the dog decides to chase the cat. The dog
accelerates at 1.5 m/s
2
.
a) How long does it take the dog to catch the cat? [6.19 s]
b) How far away from the spot where the dog was sitting has the
cat gone when it is caught by the dog? [28.7 m]
(assume constant velocity for the cat)